A Delhi-born cricketer who has found a second home in Bengaluru, at 37, Virat Kohli continues to redefine longevity in the IPL, blending experience with the same hunger and intensity that marked his early years. As RCB prepare for the 2026 season, Kohli remains central to their ambitions, showing no signs of slowing down.<\/p>\n
Fresh off a historic 2025 campaign where RCB ended their 18-year wait for a maiden title, Kohli has his eyes set on repeating that success. The veteran batter was instrumental last season, scoring 657 runs, finishing as the team\u2019s highest run-scorer and the third-highest overall in the tournament. He maintained an impressive average of 54, underlining his consistency at the top.<\/p>\n
Across his IPL career, Kohli\u2019s numbers further cement his legacy. In 267 matches, he has amassed 8,661 runs, making him the all-time leading run-scorer in the league\u2019s history. While he no longer leads RCB as captain, his influence within the squad remains equally high. Kohli continues to play a key leadership role, offering crucial inputs during high-pressure situations and guiding younger players on and off the field.<\/p>\n
What stands out most is his unwavering passion. Whether it is his on-field energy, sharp fitness levels, or relentless pursuit of excellence, Kohli\u2019s commitment continues to inspire both teammates and fans. Expectations around him have always been high.<\/p>\n
Kohli shares a unique bond with RCB supporters, who passionately hail him as \u201cKing Kohli.\u201d As the defending champions head into IPL 2026 with a largely unchanged core and a powerful batting line-up, they are once again among the favourites.<\/p>\n
While questions about the final phase of his career persist, Kohli\u2019s form and fitness suggest that this is not a last chance but perhaps the beginning of his final few dominant years in the IPL.<\/p>\n
RCB Squad<\/strong>: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Jitesh Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Bethell, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Dar, Swapnil Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Duffy, Mangesh Yadav, Satvik Deswal, Jordan Cox, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra, Kanishk Chouhan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Delhi-born cricketer who has found a second home in Bengaluru, at 37, Virat Kohli continues to redefine longevity in\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":473,"featured_media":45190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3801,3804,1539],"class_list":["post-45294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl","tag-ipl","tag-rcb","tag-virat-kholi"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/473"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45294"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45360,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45294\/revisions\/45360"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}